20 - Sergi Roberto

[Ghostmaster]

Finally some good news for our midfield, we definitely should keep him for next season.

 

[DinhoR10]

If Sergi Roberto somehow manages to make a place here for him then Lucho is officially god idk whats different but he's doing what he should've done back in tata's reign.

 

[Barcaman]

Surprise of the season! Okay, I might be exaggerating as guy barely plays but still, I am pleasantly surprised at his development under Lucho.

 

[Zangash]

Who could have expected Roberto to end up playing so well?

We all should have been more patient with the patient midfielder, it seems.

 

[DinhoR10]

Who could have expected Roberto to end up playing so well?

We all should have been more patient with the patient midfielder, it seems.

I was one of the most patient and I gave up at the start of this season

 

[Antimadridista1]

Once again a good performance.
No more Rafinha lol

 

[anguy]

He does doesn't he?! Much more convincing than Rafi, should buy an extra midfielder, keep SR as backup and loan/sell Rafi

Or even better how about playing Rafinha on his natural position where he can use his skills properly? Roberto looked horrible in more advanced role because he can't pass forward and is not creative enough. But he loses few balls and has good workrate, so he's much better fit for DM.
Rafinha looks average AS CM, because he can't make long passes, goes forward and sometimes dribbles too much. MOve him forward to RW/AM role currently occupied by Messi and you'll see progress similar to Roberto. And at least Messi might get some deserved rest.

 

[ZenI]

Or even better how about playing Rafinha on his natural position where he can use his skills properly? Roberto looked horrible in more advanced role because he can't pass forward and is not creative enough. But he loses few balls and has good workrate, so he's much better fit for DM.
Rafinha looks average AS CM, because he can't make long passes, goes forward and sometimes dribbles too much. MOve him forward to RW/AM role currently occupied by Messi and you'll see progress similar to Roberto. And at least Messi might get some deserved rest.

I doubt playing Rafinha as AM would do us or him any good. We tried it with Cesc, and mind you Cesc is 10 times the player Rafi will ever become, and it only worked sometimes against weak teams. That false 9 stuff with Cesc against better teams was frankly a catastrophe. That he hasn't played for almost a month beside 1 match tells us even Lucho doesn't think he's good enough, now SR gets his minutes...

 

[anguy]

I doubt playing Rafinha as AM would do us or him any good. We tried it with Cesc, and mind you Cesc is 10 times the player Rafi will ever become, and it only worked sometimes against weak teams. That false 9 stuff with Cesc against better teams was frankly a catastrophe. That he hasn't played for almost a month beside 1 match tells us even Lucho doesn't think he's good enough, now SR gets his minutes...

Sorry, but Rafinha is far better suited for that role, than Fabregas. For the same reason why Fabregas will (likely) always be better midfilder and Roberto will always be better DM. Of course Fabregas sucked as false 9, he never had proper attributes to play it! He lacks speed and one on one skills. Proper false 9 should be good forward and AM in one! Fabregas was just good AM and average as forward.

Rafinha is not playing in his natural role, because Messi plays 90 minutes every game. I'm not certain he would be a star for us,but he has muchbigger chance to become star on his natural position, than as CM.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Similarly to Busquets has a good eye for a pass in deep midfield and to so good, when pushed forward. Good to see that his natural position has been found.

 

[jamrock]

maybe, we have found a position for him to have a successful career at barca. needs a bigger test to confirm it though

 

[Sumlit]

Once again, Roberto first choice youngster off the bench. Going to wait for a bigger sample size, but right now two things I'll keep an eye on:

One, once again it'll be interesting to see if Roberto continues to take minutes from Rafinha as it's looking like the last couple of weeks Roberto might be leap-frogging Rafa in the pecking order.

And two, can he continue to flourish in the deep holding midfielder role. I think it has come to a surprised for many how well he's played in the limited timed given to him there.

 

[Vlom]

Solid performance again ! Great sub for Busi

 

[anguy]

maybe, we have found a position for him to have a successful career at barca. needs a bigger test to confirm it though

Good for him, but I'd still be happier if he managed to adapt himself to CM position. We look to be stacked at DM for near future - Busq, Masch, Roberto and talent Samper (hell maybe even Gumbau ). Similar situation on AM position - Messi, Rafinha, Halilovic, D. Suarez. 4 of these 8 will likely have to leave and the rest won't play much with Messi and Busq in their prime. Pretty unbalanced squad.

 

[Kohe321]

Yeah, another good performance at DM, his defensive capabilities are really good. Positioning was mostly on point, fought for the ball and distributed nicely. Made good use of his strength and grit when fighting for the ball, and also showed off his pace at one point when he initiated a great counter attack.

He had one moment where he could have sent Messi through on goal with a lob, but instead opted for the safer pass up to Alves I think it was, but that's the thing - he's not the player who will break open defenses as his bread and butter, but he does really well at keeping the ball moving while drifting into good positions working as a fluid "joint" between attacking players.